Unstoppable Addiction
by WinterAngel24
Summary: "Welcome to the family!" BAM! ... "You know, this is the second time she's slammed the door in our faces." Apathy doesn't even begin to cover it, but it's not like she doesn't care at all is it? What is really behind that blank and bored face?
1. Chapter 1 Has Fresh Starts

Chapter 1 Has Fresh Starts

"Welcome dear beautiful princess!"

BAM!

A sigh. "Nothing good comes out of being directionally challenged, does it?"

The door swung open again.

"Come now!" The same strange blond from before proclaimed. "Don't be shy! We always welcome newcomers to our humble club."

A slow blink was given before the figure sighed again and started to walk away. "Don't talk to idiots or they'll get the wrong idea. I just need to walk away and see if I can find someone with a brain to help me out." The figure muttered to herself. "Dang. After all, only _I_ would wind up walking into a room full of weirdos. Honestly, who dresses like that? Although, that girl didn't look like she wanted to be there. Then again, she was probably forced to dress like that against her will, and like a boy at that. What a weird place."

Suddenly the girl found herself trapped between two bodies and dragged back to the room she had intended to avoid like the plague.

"You know...This could be considered a form of kidnapping," the girl informed the group of boys standing in front of her.

"This will only take a minute," a tall dark haired man with glasses said soothingly.

"Yes! We just want to make sure you understand how manly Haruhi really is!" The blond said with an annoyingly tone that spoke that he was _obviously_ lying in a painful sort of way.

The girl sighed once again. "This is now one of the many reasons I don't want to stay in Japan. How bothersome. Whatever. This isn't my problem nor my business. I don't intend to say anything to anyone if that's what you're worried about. After all, it would just cause me even more problems. So can I go, scary glasses man and company?"

The group of males blinked in shock, Haruhi-...not so much.

"How strange," Tweedle-dee (as the girl had started calling them in her mind) muttered.

Tweedle-dum nodded in agreement. "You're not a very normal girl are you? Or are you a girl at all?"

"Oh dear! My x chromosomes must have been lying to me all these years!" The girl replied in an even more of a flat monotone, placing her hands on either side of her face in sarcastic shock. "Geez. A third grader could have come up with a better insult. I should know, considering my niece is a terrible terror."

The only other female in the room sighed and stepped forward. "Don't mind them. They just like to mess with people. Personally, I don't really mind if you know that I'm a girl or not. It's not like it matters."

"It does if you ever hope to pay off your debt," the scary glasses male said.

"Oh? This is what they call blackmailing, right?" The unnamed girl inquired outloud. "How interesting to see it in effect."

The bespeckled character readjusted his glasses, causing them to flash in a menacing light. "I wouldn't call it blackmailing as much as persuasion."

The girl shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat scary glasses man. Can I go now? I still have to find my way back to the front entrance before the crazy lady sends a search team."

"It sounds like you just transferred in," Tweedle-dee commented. "Although, that should explain the clothes. So..."

"What are you doing here in the first place?" Tweedle-dum picked up. "Are you a commoner with a scholarship like Haruhi?"

The new girl blinked slowly. "Hmmmm? Scholarship? Commoner?...Japan really is a strange place. I didn't think people actually spoke like that in real life...Huh."

"If you're not from Japan, where did you come from?" The short blond boy asked with a tilt of his head and a hug for his bunny.

"Me?" The girl pointed to herself, her features remaining apathetic and uncaring. "I'm from the States."

"Your dialect is very good for someone not raised here," the glasses male commented. "Perhaps you are of half Japanese descent?"

"Aaaahh, not quite." The girl yawned in boredom. "I'm a quarter French, a quarter Chinese, a quarter Japanese, and a quarter Philippine."

"Then perhaps, dear princess, one of your parents taught you growing up?" The leader of the group asked.

"Aah. Nope." The girl answered in English so that she could end her last word with a pop, then switching back to Japanese to continue. "I grew up speaking American English. I picked up a little Japanese when I met a foreign exchange student a few months ago and then picked up the rest when I met the crazy lady. Hey, can I at least know your names so that I'm not just calling you guys: scary glasses man, Tweedle-dee, Tweedle-dum, brother bear, idiot blond, and child-like blond?"

"My apologies dear maiden!" The leader exclaimed dramatically. "My name is Suoh Tamaki! president of this Host Club!"

"So idiot blond who speaks with exclamation points," the girl reiterated in her own way.

"My name is Ootori Kyoya, the vice president and financial manager."

"...Still scary glasses man."

"I'm Huninozuka Mitsukuni! And this is Usa-chan and my cousin, Morinozuka Takashi! But you can call me Honey and Takashi, Mori!"

"I'm going to have to think about what would be an easier way to remember you two."

"Well, you already sort of know my name, but I'm Fujioka Haruhi. It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure, normal person."

"We're Kaoru and Hikaru Hitachiin!"

"Hm. As one entity, you would be the Cheshire cat. But I think I'll stick with Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum."

"What's the point of asking for our names if you're not going to bother referring to us by them?" Tweedle-dum demanded.

"For future reference," the girl stated evenly. "I guess it would be polite if I introduced myself, huh? Well, I'm Ricks Peyton. Whelp. It's been a slice. But I've got to get going now. Adiós amigos."

"Hold on one moment," Kyoya called out, halting the girl. "Do we have your word that you won't be saying anything about Haruhi or her situation."

"Sure. Not like it affects me in any matter," Peyton told the group. "See you again never. Now, I have to go meet the rest of my new family."

The host club watched the girl walk out the room with her hands laced together behind her head.

"What a strange person," Kaoru commented.

Hikaru snorted. "Yeah. The way she didn't react to anything or sound so dull is so boring. She's more like one of the characters you see in some anime rather than a real person. I don't think I've ever met anyone with such a bland personality."

"Still, I wonder what she meant by 'new family'," the more open of the two brothers wondered out loud. "Do you know Kyoya-senpai?"

Once again, the male pushed his glasses up, already looking up the information available on the girl on his laptop. He frowned and paused. "It seems that her information hasn't been added into the student profiles yet. I'll see what I can dig up," he told the group as girls started to pour into the room.

xXx

Kyoya sighed silently as his vehicle pulled up to his home. He was unsuccessful at finding any information about the girl during his time in the club. But after the family meeting he had been called to, he would have as much time as he wanted to look into the new girl.

The door opened just as he reached the entrance and the boy stepped inside, his gaze immediately fell on the three standing in the foyer.

"Ara? It's the scary glasses man."


	2. Chapter 2 Has Awkward Re-Introductions

Chapter 2 Has Akward Re-Introductions

Kyoya blinked not once, but _twice_ before gathering his thoughts and turning his attention toward the other two people standing before him. He bowed his head slightly in respect. "Father, Fuyumi. It's good to see you again Ricks-san."

The older female giggled. "Peyton-chan isn't a Ricks anymore Kyoya."

"Is that so," Kyoya replied evenly, even as his curiosity clawed at him and his pride stung from not knowing more beforehand.

The Ootori patriarch smirked. "Kyoya, from today on, I expect you to look after Peyton, seeing as she is your younger sister."

The young male did not reply, trying to grasp what his father was saying. Did he mean only what he said, or did he have some greater plan involving the girl.

Fuyumi giggled again. "Father has adopted Peyton-chan, Kyo!"

"And I expect a lot from you," the head of the house directed toward the younger girl.

Payton sighed and scratched the back of her head. "This is why I said it was fine to leave me as I was. I don't have anything to offer you scary mister."

The adult only smirked once more. "We'll see." With that he turned and walked away.

Kyoya waited until his father was out of hearing range to speak once more. "What is the meaning of this Fuyumi."

"Even though I would love to tell you what happened while my husband and I were in America, I actually do have to leave." The older sister smiled and gasped the younger female's hands. "Now Peyton-chan, this is Kyoya, my little brother and your new nii-san. You'll meet your other nii-sans later. But now you can call me nee-chan! And be sure to remember! I'll be sure to visit often!"

"Please don't," the other girl interrupted bluntly.

However Fuyumi ignored the other and waved toward the two teenagers as she walked out. "Bye-bye now!"

Peyton sighed again. "Well damn. This is what I get for helping strangers. Being a good samaritan has only led to me being spirited away to another country and legally chained to a suspicious family. I'll never help anyone ever again. Lesson learner."

Kyoya observed the girl quietly as she muttered to herself. Despite her words, it didn't seem like she really cared that much. Or, perhaps she was just using such a bored expression as a mask?

"Ne, ne. Scary glasses man," the raven with pink eyes called out lazily, bending over slightly, but tilting her head up so that she could see the other. "You don't happen to know how to get me out of this do you? These weird people convinced the court judge that I wanted to go with them, but I didn't really care to come to Japan in my lifetime. But the crazy lady said that you were really smart, so I thought maybe you would be able to convince them to send me back. After all, the scary mister looks like he's treating this adoption thing as a form of legal slavery."

"You are an odd one, aren't you?" Kyoya finally commented. "So how did you come into contact with my sister?"

Peyton straightened with a sigh and laced her fingers behind her head as she looked up in thought. "Beats me. I was really in the wrong place at the wrong time...Just to let you know, I don't think I'll be calling you nii-san or whatever. Then again, it might cause me more trouble if I don't..." The girl sighed again. "What a pain. Oi, can you show me around? I mean, I doubt I'll pay attention enough to remember, but just in case..."

"As you wish," the boy replied with his coy host smile.

The girl paused to stare at him blankly. "Hey, scary glasses man, you shouldn't smile like that. It's insincere and makes you even more scary looking."

"Fair enough," the teenage boy smirked. It wasn't very often that people saw through that smile. It was probably only the members of the host club that _really_ could. He gestured down the hall. "This way if you please..."

xXx

"Class," the teacher addressed the students, "today we have a new student. Please come in and introduce yourself."

The twins and Haruhi shared a curious look before turning back toward the opening doo.

"Wow, I didn't think kids really how to do that. It kind of makes you feel bad for the ones that hate attention," the girl from the day before commented more to herself than anyone else as she walked in. "Well, I'm Ricks- Oops. Sorry. I guess I'm supposed to say Ootori now, huh?"

The twins, and even Haruhi, almost fell out of their seats in shock. The identical boys openly gaped at the girl, who was tapping her chin in thought, trying to figure out if she was really telling the truth.

The girl shrugged. "Well, in any case, the name on my form is Ootori Peyton. Um, I'm supposed to say please take care of me, right? Though, I would rather you just forget about me. Otherwise, this could turn out to be even more of a pain."

The teacher sweat dropped. Why in the world would the _Ootori's_ take in such a rude street rat was beyond her, but she let if go for now. She would save her gossip for break time when she could speak to the other female staff members. "Does anyone have any questions for Ootori-chan."

"Wow, that sounded worse than when I thought about it in my head," Peyton stated bluntly.

The teacher's brow twitched, but she dutifully ignored the girl's comment and nodded toward one of the many students raising their hands.

"Are you really an Ootori?"

"Not by blood."

"So you were adopted?"

"So you have to breathe?"

"How did you get to know the Ootori's enough for them to want to take you in?"

"I didn't. I tried to run away from them."

"So where were you from originally?"

"Somewhere in North America."

"You're from Canada?!"

"Wow. Didn't think that would be the assumption."

"Then what part of the USA did you live?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"It wasn't a question worth answering."

"What blood type are you?"

"...You mean Japanese people actually know and ask that stuff? I thought was just just in those animes my classmates read."

"So what is it?"

"What's what?"

"Your blood type."

"Well, there's a letter. Maybe even two."

"Are you single?"

"Well my body didn't split off into another person the last time I checked this morning."

"So...no relationships?"

"I have a family, don't I?"

"We mean a boyfriend."

"I have a few friends who are male."

"But you're not dating anyone?"

"Is that supposed to be modern day stoning?"

"So there's no particular male you may end up marrying in the future?"

"Well if that whole red string nonsense is true, then I'm guessing that there's one out there."

"What's your sign?"

"It's red and is says: Stop."

The teacher, knowing that this could continue for quite some time, decided that this was a good time to cut in. "That's enough. All of you can ask Ootori-chan your other questions during break. Please go sit by, er, Hikaru-kun."

"Eeeeh? But teach', Hikaru is seated by the window," Peyton pointed out. "Does that mean you're telling me to sit outside?"

The class as a whole blinked in surprise.

"Then again, I guess it would be common sense to know that you mean the younger twin, huh?" The girl looked up toward the ceiling like she was thinking and tapped her chin with her index finger. She shrugged and headed off toward the empty seat. "Whatever, Tweedle-dee it is then."

Kaoru watched silently and curiously as the new girl came over and sat down next to him. How did she know that he was really, Kaoru and not Hikaru? A guess? "How did you know?"

The girl glanced over from the corner of her eyes. "Am I not allowed to know?"

"Well, no, but-" The younger twin fumbled for words for a moment before shaking his head and turning toward the already talking teacher.

Peyton watched the other drop the subject and turn away from her, contemplating whether or not it would be a nuisance to just tell the boys. However, it seemed like a bother, so she dropped the subject as well.

xXx

"How did you know?" Hikaru demanded immediately after class ended for lunch, slamming his hands down onto the girl's desk.

"Well, after you do the derivative of-" Peyton started to explain, only to be rudely interrupted.

"Not that! How did you figure out which of us was me and Kaoru?"

"I'm starting to feel like knowing the correct answer is taboo and will only cause me more problems, so I'm just going to say I guessed." The girl picked up her bag and scooted away from her desk with full intentions of leaving the subject as it was in favor of lunch.

However, her hopes were dashed as the twins followed her out of the room, dragging poor Haruhi along.

"But that implies that you didn't guess," Tweedle-dee pointed out.

"Then whatever higher entity you believe in told me so," the girl said blandly.

"You don't sound convincing at all," Tweedle-dum scoffed.

"Is that so? Ah." The girl stopped walking abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Haruhi asked kindly. "Did you forget something in the classroom?"

Peyton shook her head. "No. I think scary glasses man told me something yesterday, but I stopped listening. Well, the fact that I don't know where I'm going is a bigger problem right now."

'She wasn't paying attention to the Shadow King when he was talking?' The three first years couldn't help but explain within the safety of their minds.

"Hm, where are we right now?"

The two noys came back to their senses to see that they had wandered off into some odd end of the school.

"Hey, if you didn't know where you were going, then why didn't you just ask?" Hikaru whined.

"Well, Tweedle-dum, why didn't you go off in the correct direction rather than following me blindly," Peyton shot back easily. "That's what Fujioka did in any case."

The two boys looked around, finally noticing that they were missing one person.

"Come on, let's grab lunch and then go to the club room. I want to ask Kyoya-senpai what's going on." Hikaru grabbed on of the girl's arms, his brother following through on the other side, and they dragged her off in the right direction.

"Hey…Hey!" Peyton called out only slightly louder when she didn't get a response the first time.

Tweedle-dum glanced down at the girl. "What!"

"If you guys keep dragging me backwards everywhere, then I'm going to have to walk backwards to know where I'm going," the girl informed the two. "Not to mention, going anywhere with your strange group from yesterday is sure to cause me trouble. You know, that thing I've been saying that I wanted to avoid."

"What, don't tell me you're shy," Hikaru responded coyly, moving his arm from her arm to around her shoulders. "Come now, we just want to be good classmates and help show you around a bit."

"That's right," Kaoru responded in kind, moving his arm to her waist. "After all, what type of hosts would we be if we didn't help out the new student?"

"A normal unconcerned one." The girl sighed. "Why are the Japanese to touchy-feely? Don't you guys have any sense of personal space."

"Hika-chan! Kao-chan! There you are!" Honey bounded up cheerfully toward the twins with his cousin in tow. "Oh, good! You found Ten-chan too!"

Peyton blinked slowly as the name registered through her brain. "Ara? Ten-chan? Who is that?"

Mitsukuni giggled. "That's you silly! Now come on! Kyo-chan has been looking all over for you, he said there's a club meeting."

"Whelp, this is where I can finally take my leave," the raven shrugged away from the twins. "Ciao. Eh?" The girl's attempt to leave was halted when she was thrown up onto Mori's shoulder.

Honey laughed again and hopped up onto the available side. "Kyo-kun wants you to come too, Ten-chan!"

"This...is going to be bothersome, isn't it." Peyton sighed and resigned herself to being carried off.

The five walked into the clubroom to see a slightly ruffled Haruhi being dragged around by Tamaki, while Kyoya stood off to the side.

"Finally," the dark haired man said aloud. "I thought I told you to come here during lunch period yesterday."

"Well, I was sure that you noticed that I stopped listening the moment you started talking," Peyton said blandly after she had been lowered to the ground. "Did I say that I didn't want to be involved with anything tiresome while I'm stuck here?"

Kyoya sighed. "My apologies, but as your position stands now, I am the one who has been asked to look after you."

"Kyoya, what exactly _is_ going on?" Tamaki butted in.

"Legally as of yesterday, Peyton has become a member of the Ootori family," Kyoya explained. "However, I lack the full details as to how this could have occurred."

"Hey, I'm the victim in all of this and _I_ lack all the information." The cherry-blossom eyed girl looked around lazily. "Really, I didn't think the Japanese could be so impulsive. But, perhaps it was just the crazy lady. Then again, when she smiled at me like that the first time, I suppose that's what you would call an 'omen'...Well, I guess it's not like I care all that much. Maybe I should just resign myself and skip all the tiring useless fighting."

"You say your thoughts out loud often, don't you?" Kaoru noted.

"Sometimes, all the time, not really." The girl shrugged.

"Do you mind telling us your side of the story as to how you ended up here?" Kyoya inquired impatiently.

"Sure, why not. After all, you'd probably just keep pestering me until I told you anyways." The girl seated herself onto a nearby couch. "This is how it happened..."


	3. Chapter 3 Has Too Much Trouble

Chapter 3 Has Too Much Trouble

_Peyton glanced around the intersection, waiting for the red hand of the crosswalk to change to the white walking person like everyone else. School had just ended and she now had about three and a half hours to do whatever she wanted before anyone would notice that she was gone._

_Merging with the crowd, the raven crossed the street and started to cut across the park. She took her time to stroll through, enjoying the small bit of peace and silence it brought her. As the pink eyed girl's gaze drifted across the different aspects of the public grounds and the people moving through, she spotted one woman looking about frantically._

_'_Probably just lost sight of her kid_,' Peyton observed._

_She shrugged and kept going her way. It's not that she was a bad person, but to even ask what was wrong could end up getting her in a lot of trouble. Still…The black-haired girl glanced once more at the woman subtly as she neared._

_"__**Ano...Excuse me**__," the woman called out hesitantly to a group of young Japanese teenagers. "__**Could you please help me for a moment?**__"_

_'_Ah. So that's it_,' the raven teen nodded to herself. '_She doesn't speak English very well and no one is willing to spare her a moment. But it's still none of my business and, therefore, not my problem. Case closed.'

_Peyton walked by and kept on going with full intentions of going to a local cafe before heading home for the day. However, the farther away she got from the woman, the more it felt like one weight after another was steadily being lowered onto her chest and legs. Before she could even make it completely to the other side, the pinked eyed young woman sighed and spun on her heel, heading back the way she came with quick steps._

_"Hey," the raven girl called out. "Do you happen to know any English, 'cause my Japanese is non existent at best."_

_"Ah! Yes!" The foreign woman responded enthusiastically. "I do speak some, but does this mean you'll help me?" A (dangerously in the younger girl's mind) hopeful smile spread across her face._

_The younger raven shrugged. "As long as it's something like asking for directions. Otherwise, I can point you to the closest place that will allow you to make a local call."_

_"Well, I was looking for the main shopping district. I wanted to look for a souvenir or gift for my family and then I was going to meet my fiance there later, but I lost my way," the older woman explained. "Even when I tried asking in this country's native tongue, no one would even look my way. Oh! By the way, my name is Fuyumi Ootori. It's nice to meet you."_

_"Er, I'm Peyton. Look you just need to cross the street over there," the raven pointed. "If you walk past the first building on the corner, you'll be in the middle of the shopping area."_

_"Thank you very much!" The older woman said graciously, taking the younger girl's hands into her own. Her smile turned up a few notches and gained a notable sense of attachment to the younger female. "Please let me make it up to you!"_

_Peyton extracted her hands and held them up to stop the woman. "Look Miss Ootori-"_

_"Call me Fuyumi!"_

_"Er. Right. Miss Fuyumi," the younger raven adjusted. "It wasn't that big of a deal and I was already heading toward my favorite cafe and all."_

_"Oh, may I come along?" The Japanese woman inquired, completely missing the obvious fact that the other girl wanted to be left alone. "I'll treat you."_

_Peyton sighed. "Look, it's fine I tell you. Didn't you say you had something to do and someone to meet up with in the shopping district?"_

_"Well, I wanted to find something to bring back for my little brother, but I still have a few hours before Shido arrives," the woman explained._

_"You really are a suspicious lady." The younger female sighed again and glanced down at her watch. "I suppose I can spare a couple of hours if it'll ease your mind enough to leave me alone. But if you try anything, I'll call the cops and ditch you, got that crazy foreign lady."_

_Fuyumi smiled brightly and immediately started dragging the young American teen away. "That's no problem at all Peyton-chan! I'm really looking forward getting to know such an interesting girl."_

_"This is a one time thing," the younger raven grumbled. "I'm telling you that I don't want to ever see you again after this."_

_The older woman giggled. "Oh Peyton-chan, you really are so silly and adorable."_

_"It's not adorable, it's unsociable."_

_"Let's go try on some dresses in that shop!"_

_"Are you deaf as well as crazy?" But the poor teen's comments went unnoticed._

_The next day Peyton was ambushed on her way home and once again dragged around by the strange older woman. The foreigner found the other girl silly and 'cute' even though Peyton was blatantly insulting her at different points. Fuyumi didn't even care the the younger girl had just started to refer to her as the 'crazy lady' instead of her name. When asked, the Japanese woman would say that it was Peyton's way of showing affection and she found it adorable how she tried to hide it behind mean sounding words. Peyton just thought the lady was as much of an idiot as she was insane._

xXx

"After that she barged into my home found my living conditions to be unsuitable and dragged me to Japan with her after forcing my parents to sign away adoption papers," The raven ended abruptly.

"There seems to be a lot of details missing," Haruhi commented.

"Yeah, I was fine with telling you guys everything, because it didn't really make a difference to me," Peyton drawled out. "But then I remembered that the majority of you guys would make a big racket out of it, not to mention scary glasses man is related to the crazy lady, so then I decided to just stick to the general story."

Kyoya sighed. He knew that his sister could be rather...energetic and impulsive, but to bring home another person? That being said..."How on earth did you convince my father to adopt you?"

The raven haired female deadpanned. "I didn't. In fact, I told the scary mister that the crazy lady was delusional and wouldn't leave me alone."

"Then how did Fuyumi convince father?" The Shadow King reiterated.

"Well, she told him I was smarter than your average bear," Peyton replied offhandedly, studying her nails.

Kyoya sighed. This girl's roundabout and sarcastic answers were wearing him down.

"So then," Haruhi said slowly. "Does that mean...you're a genius?"

"Well, that's one way to put is I supposed," the other young woman mused. "I suppose having a high IQ would land me with that title. Though, I don't think three little numbers could mean that much, but it seems that I'm the only one here with that opinion."

"That's how you picked up Japanese so quickly, right Ten-chan?" Honey confirmed.

Peyton nodded. "Being smart allows me to pick up small things like that. As long as people remember that this only applies the the mental strength attributed to this so called genius stuff, then that's fine."

"What do you mean?" Kaoru tried to clarify, not completely understanding what she meant.

"Let me just give you an example. Take those two," Peyton pointed to the two third years. "If they showed me the majority of their stances and I watched them spar a couple of times, I would be able to figure out a way to defeat them. However, this is null and void for someone like me who doesn't have the physical capability to fight. Even if I know what stances and defense forms to outmaneuver them, since my body can't move the way my mind comes up with, I really still can't fight back at all. That's why I really don't consider myself a genius. To me, a genius is someone who's well rounded enough where mind and body can work as one unit to do things the average human cannot. Being smart alone can be useless."

"You sound like you speak from experience," Mori stated, speaking for the first time in front of the new girl- and a full sentence at that.

Peyton paused for a moment. "Hm. I suppose one could say that."

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably, not liking the tension in the air. It was clear that his brother felt the same, but was also struggling with a change of topic. "So...How smart are you exactly?"

The raven woman blinked and glanced up. "Well, do you have a chess board?"

"Sure!" Honey chirped, running out of the room and coming back with the selected game. He set out the pieces in front of the girl and pulled out a chair.

"So who's game?" Peyton yawned. "Challenger can be white, I don't really care."

"I shall take you on!" Tamaki declared, striking a pose. He sat down and moved his pawn.

"Checkmate in seven."

Tamaki and the others blinked. "What?"

"Checkmate in seven," the girl repeated, moving her own piece. "In seven more of your moves, I'll checkmate your king."

"You're just guessing," Hikaru reasoned more than accused.

The pink eyed girl shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

But true enough, after the blond leader made his seventh move, the American born teen moved her bishop for checkmate.

"Wow," Haruhi and the twins muttered.

"You want a round, scary glasses man?" Peyton asked, almost as if she was challenging him lightly.

The Shadow King thought before a moment before grinning and taking his friend's place. "Why don't you take the first move," he offered graciously after the board had been reset.

The young woman shrugged and turned the board around, making her first move. "It won't throw my calculations off just to make me go first. Let's see if you can outdo the scary mister."

The bespeckled teen's eyebrows shot up. "You challenged father?" He set his pawn ahead to make room for his bishop to move.

"No, the scary mister challenged me." The knight was given reigns to move.

"And tell me," Kyoya made his next move, "how did he do?"

"Better than most I suppose." She adjusted the placement of her rook, to which Kyoya responded in kind. Her eyes skittered across the board as her mind roamed the possibilities before she made another move.

Another knight was set into motion. "Forgive me, I meant to ask how many moves he survived."

"Well, let's see." Peyton moved another piece and waited until the other teen made his move in return. "You are on your fifth turn, correct?"

"That would be so." _Tap_.

"Hm. Well, it took me six of the scary man's turns before I could come up with number of remaining moves until checkmate." _Tap_.

_Tap_. "And how many turns did it take after that?"

"Four until check." _Tap_. "But twelve until checkmate."

"Was that all?" _Tap_.

"No." _Tap_. "He changed his tactics slightly, so it took me eleven to checkmate."

The Shadow King paused. "He made you finish early?"

"Iie." Peyton waved the accusation away. "It was actually a lot more difficult when he switched up his game plan. It would be considered quite a feat not to self destruct under the conditions."

Kyoya placed his piece down. "That's good then. But that means it took a total of twenty one moves to defeat him."

"Uh huh. By the way, seven until check and ten until checkmate. That twenty five moves, but I doubt you would just let the game go with just that would you?"

Only the glare of the male's glasses and a smirk was given in response.

Peyton sighed. "Just when I lost interest too."

Kyoya placed his next piece down. "Six. But I shall add in my own prediction of check in four with a final checkmate in eighteen."

Peyton raised an eyebrow the slightest bit. "We'll see."

"What lovely competition between newly formed sibling!" _Rrrrrrrrr_. The ground shook as a platform appeared from the ground. "A possible rivalry leading to forbidden love?"

"...I'm beginning to think that all Japanese are insane," the raven girl deadpanned.


	4. Chapter 4 Has Difficulties Divulged

Chapter 4 Has Difficulties Divulged

Peyton's deadpan gaze at the girl ranting and raving absolute nonsense went totally unnoticed by the newly arrived female, though the other hosts couldn't help but sweat drop in sympathy. Not too many people could handle Renge's outlandish behavior on their first go with the girl.

"Well, I'm out." Peyton spun on her heel with full intentions of deserting the group.

"Wait! We haven't been formally introduced yet!" The bow adorned girl shouted out and pulled the other girl back. "I'm Houshakuji Renge, the host club's manager!"

"I'm leaving," Peyton stated bluntly.

"How rude! And I was going to make a doushinji featuring your growing forbidden love with your new sibling, Kyoya!" The French otaku huffed indignantly.

"I believe in common etiquette, it is more rude of you to assume a relationship of those sorts would actually occur," Peyton responded lazily. "Perhaps it's the French part of you and the idiot blond that makes you two so over the top about affairs pertaining to any sort of relationship, be it innocent or not. Or is that too stereotypical? And in any case, it wasn't by choice that I ended up as the scary glasses man's sibling. I already have a sister and I don't need any new siblings. One person can only take so much after all."

"That's nonsense!" Renge insisted. "It's not assuming because love can bloom anywhere between anyone!"

"Aaand the rest of what I said went ignored. Awesome." The raven female sighed and shook her head. "Look, I'm going back to class. Anything would be better than putting up with...whatever this is."

The host club watched as the girl retreated while the female otaku kept spouting words about love and whatever else that came to mind. Each of them was curious about more than a few of the new things they had learned about the girl.

Kyoya sighed and looked down at his unfinished game, the pieces scattered about by Renge's appearance. It was a shame. He had been hoping to change the outcome. He blinked and paused when a neatly folded paper star sitting on the middle of the board caught his attention. He picked it up and unfolded it carefully, smirking when he read the contents.

_Not bad. 28 moves until checkmate. Do better next time._

xXx

"Peeeeeyyytooon-chaaaaaaan~!"

"This is the part where I go find a nice rock to hide under, right?"

The pink eyed female didn't get to take more than a step in the opposite directed before she was tackled and twirled around by the one and only Fuyumi. "Peyton-chan! Peyton-chan! Today, you and I are going shopping!"

"No need and I don't like shopping." The younger raven righted herself and brushed away the wrinkles formed from her attack.

"Shouldn't you be with your fiance?" Kyoya added, walking up behind the girls along with the rest of his club members.

Fuyumi giggled. "Hello Kyoya! Today, since Shido is busy, father has given me permission to take our little imouto out shopping. Peyton-chan only had one bag when we left, so we want to make sure she has everything she needs; not only for herself, but for future events!"

"And how do you hope to accomplish that if your subject has already disappeared?" The youngest Ootori male pointed out.

"Eh?" The older sibling blinked in confusion and looked around. She gasped when she noticed the space where her adopted younger sister had filled was now empty and immediately took off. "Sorry, Kyoya! I have to go now! See you at dinner!"

The Ootori female walked quickly out of the school grounds, looking around carefully for her runaway charge. She couldn't have gotten far, especially since the girl had a habit of not paying attention to where she was going. Fuyumi smiled when she spotted the young girl watching a couple of little girls, that were clearly related to each other, run into the park. The slightly taller, and probably older, of the two ran toward a group of other kids while the other girl slowed down and walked over to the swing set. The older raven girl smiled sadly and walked over to stand by the American born girl.

"I wonder it is about children that makes adults so foolish to think that they aren't capable of being greedy, or selfish, or liars," Peyton remarked. "Purity is an illusion from the very beginning."

"That's not true," Fuyumi disputed quietly. "I believe that all children are innocent unless treated otherwise."

"Not that it really matters," the younger woman dismissed. She turned to face the other. "I give up. I don't feel like wasting energy when you're just going to find me and drag me around anyways."

Fuyumi smiled and took her sister's hand. "I'll try to go easy on you."

She winked and pulled the girl back over to the waiting car, taking off toward the first of her long list of boutiques. Fuyumi made sure that they bought at least one or two things from every store they visited. She really wanted to spoil this girl, and it was difficult not to when she was so adamant about not spending a dime on herself. The older Ootori female wanted to point out how selfless she was, but refrained. It wasn't her place to bring up old wounds, especially ones where the victim isn't capable of recognizing even the pain, let alone the entire injury and damage done.

Their shopping spree came to an end close to dinner time, not soon enough for Peyton, but too early in the older woman's mind. Fuyumi had wanted to get Peyton's hair done, but had settled for a trim when the younger female threatened to just walk all the way back on her own. Their trip ended with that and they left their bags to be taken care of by the servants as they headed toward the dining room, meeting up and walking with the youngest Ootori son on the way there.

"Why don't you sit next to Kyoya?" Fuyumi offered. "I'll sit next to Yuuichi and Akito?"

The younger blinked in confusion. "Who?"

"Ah, that's right. You haven't met them yet since they both had things to attend to yesterday." The older woman chuckled a little nervously and turned to greet her two other brothers when they walked in. "Peyton-chan, this is your other older brothers, Yuuichi and Akito."

The eldest son nodded to the new child. "Akito and I heard about you from father. Welcome to the family."

"'Sup stiffs and hidden hot head," the young woman saluted.

The middle of the three boys scoffed slightly. "It seems that he wasn't joking about your demeanor."

"Hey, no one told me I had to play nice with the people who dragged me here against my will," Peyton shrugged. "Someone capable of even the basic amount of common sense would be able to tell that much."

Kyoya smirked internally. Her attitude could become frustrating at times, but when it was turned against his family, it was mildly amusing.

The forming spat was placed aside when the Ootori patriarch walked in and took his seat at the head of the table. He glanced up for a moment and turned toward his youngest son. "Kyoya, sit beside me and Peyton will take the seat next to you with Fuyumi on her other side."

"As you wish," the youngest male obliged.

However, Peyton took her seat with a little less grace. She swallowed subtly as a sense of unease started to set in, her heart rate skyrocketing when her meal was placed before her. She stared at the contents seated on her plate, trying to figure out what they wanted from her.

Fuyumi placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder and offered a calming smile. "You don't have to finish it, just eat your fill. No one is going to judge you." This last part was a lie, but she needed to try to get the young girl to work on trusting them.

Peyton wasn't fooled by this, but she nodded slowly and reached for her utensils, fully aware that she was being observed carefully. "Then, thank you for the food I suppose."

The meal was quiet and it was quite clear that the newest addition of the family wasn't accustomed to eating in front of or with other people, nor of the rich food the Ootori family ate on a regular basis. The poor girl only managed to eat a third of her meal, finishing before the others, but resigned to stay until Yoshiro had finished and left.

Fuyumi bid the two eldest brothers goodbye before tugging her younger siblings out toward Kyoya's room, claiming that they had to talk.

Peyton sighed and laced her fingers behind her head. "What a bothersome ordeal. And here I was hoping to avoid eating meals with you people."

Kyoya turned his gaze toward the younger woman and studied her a bit before speaking. "For someone of such a blase attitude, I figured you would eat quite a bit and not care who was watching."

The pink eyed girl's eyes flashed over to look at the boy from the corner of her eyes. "You would thinks so huh? But that isn't case, as you've seen."

Fuyumi sighed. "Peyton-chan, I think it would be a good idea to explain some things so that he understands a little better, especially if something were to happen and I wasn't around."

"How pretentious," the youngest raven remarked. "Your presence does nothing. I've been on my own for sixteen years already and I've taken care of myself just fine."

The older woman smiled complacently. "I know. I meant just in case. Besides, it wouldn't hurt, right?"

Peyton stared at the other woman before finally turning her gaze away. "I don't care. It's not like it changes anything anyways."

"Excuse me young master and mistress," a butler interrupted with a bow. "Ootori-sama has requested the company of Peyton-sama."

"This sounds troublesome and possibly dangerous, so tell the scary mister that I died," Peyton told the middle aged man.

The servant bowed slightly. "My apologies young miss, but I must insist."

The youngest raven huffed. "Right, right. Lead the way, I don't feel like dealing with what could potentially become even more inconvenient. I'll meet you two at Kyoya's room so that you don't do anything even more bothersome."

"Ano...Alright..." Fuyumi trailed off uncertainly. She didn't want to leave the younger girl alone with their father, but there wasn't anything she could do. Going against his request would only land more trouble on all of them, and it was clear that her younger sister could see this as well.

Kyoya grimaced, also displeased with the proceedings. What could their father want with the girl? He doubted it was something as simple as a rematch. But then what could it be?

xXx

"Tell me again...Why am I here?"

"Because darling princess! As the new sister of our dear Kyoya, you should get the chance to experience his work and relations!" Tamaki declared dramatically. "It must be such a wonderful chance for you to see your wonderful nii-san in the spotlight, adored by his fans across our school. Or, perhaps you are jealous because you want to hoard all your nii-san's time to yourself?"

Peyton deadpanned. "Who would be jealous of someone who has to deal with idiots like you all day?" She watched unconcernedly as the so called 'princely type' flew off to a corner in woe.

"As entertaining as that is," Kyoya butted in with a meaningful smile, "please refrain from damaging Tamaki's ego during club hours. It's bad for business if he can't play his role correctly."

"Eh? I thought his role was that of the idiot blond?" The raven haired girl stated blankly. "You mean there are people actually stupid enough to look up to him?"

Haruhi sweat dropped when mushrooms started to cultivate.

"Do you hear that M'lord?" Kaoru teased.

Hikaru chuckled. "Yeah, it appears that you aren't as appealing as you think. So Peyton..."

"Does this mean you have a different preference?" The twins asked together.

"I think I'm, ahhh, what was that word again," Peyton tilted her head to the side and tapped her temple in thought. "Oh yeah, asexual. So I don't have a preference."

"Surely that can't be all," Tweedle-dee insisted with an enticing murmur, leaning in close.

"How about a brotherly love setting?" Hikaru asked. "A pretty thing like you must have all types trying to get your attention."

"Hikaru, how can you say that about another person?" Kaoru accused, pulling his hands in with one over his mouth.

"Kaoru, you know I could never feel anything about anyone but you!" Tweedle-dum immediately replied.

Peyton watched the scene before her emotionlessly.

"Maybe you're the lolita type!" Honey jumped in with a cute smile. "Or maybe the tall and silent type!"

"Oi, not so innocent one, how can you be a lolita if you're older than me?" The raven questioned. "And if I was going to sit with someone who won't hold a decent conversation, then I would be better off with a book, at least then I would be semi engaged."

"No matter," the Shadow King interrupted. "You won't have to force yourself to sit with anyone. I just need you to stay within my sight so that I can look after you."

"You people make it sound like I'm going to blow something else," Peyton muttered. "All I want to do is hijack a plane so that I can go back to America."

The host club members sweat dropped.

The pink eyed girl sighed. "Whatever. I'll just sit with Haruhi since she's the most normal person out of all of you."

"Do you want some cake while you're waiting for club to end?" Mitsukuni offered.

"I don't like sweet things," Peyton rejected with a bored tone.

"You should eat something since you barely had anything for lunch," Kyoya told the girl. "It isn't healthy to eat so little."

"I've never eaten a lot in the first place," the younger raven dismissed. She rolled her eyes lightly when her 'brother's' gaze refused to lighten up and accepted a cup of milk tea. She held it up to the teen. "Is this good enough?"

"...For now." Kyoya turned to head over to his station. "Do not think this issue is over."

Peyton sighed. "Bothersome."


	5. Chapter 5 Has Relationships Building

Chapter 5 Has Relationships Forming

"Eat it."

"Don't want to."

"You barely ate lunch."

"I was barely hungry."

"Take your health into account."

"What, do you see me dropping dead?"

"Your body needs proper nutrition."

"It does. I eat the required minimum in the day."

"How is that even possible when you don't eat!"

"Who says I have to eat in front of you or anyone else?"

"Kyoya, what on earth are you two arguing about?" Tamaki cut in, either boldly or stupidly was up for debate.

The raven haired male pinched the bridge of his nose, but then smirked. He knew how to get this girl to give in. "Peyton's diet is worrisome, so my family has been trying to get her to eat more."

"So I forget to eat sometimes, so sue me," Peyton said with the closest thing to a scoff. "At least I eat at all. I'm not anorexic."

"Ten-chan, that's no good!" Honey chastised. "You need to make sure you take care of yourself."

"Been there done that," the raven girl waved away. "By the way...Why are all of you dressed up like idiots?"

Tamaki gasped dramatically. "How could you not recognize that we are dressed in the African tribal theme?"

"Not really," Peyton disputed. "Your costume is just an even more dramatized version used in places like Hollywood. There's no authenticity at all. All you are doing is making an excuse to be half naked."

"This version will be more recognized by our clients," Kyoya explained. "But you are correct, showing this amount of skin will draw in more customers."

"Right." Despite the warm air, Peyton felt a little cold for other reasons. "I actually feel bad for Haruhi and usually I don't care at all."

"No, it's fine," the only other female said evenly. "They surprised me at first, but I got used to it."

"Ooooh, good job!" The raven female clapped in what could be taken as a condescending sort of of way, thought she didn't mean any harm by it at all. "Haruhi is very cool."

"So Peyton, what are you going to wear to our Christmas party?" The twins asked.

"Party? Why would I go to something as troublesome as that?" The pink eyed girl replied impassively. "I'm going to do what I do for Christmas every year: sleep."

"How boring. No fun," the two similar looking boys whined. "Since Haruhi won't let us dress her like a girl, we wanted to try on someone else."

"I'm not a doll," the raven female deadpanned.

"However, you will be needing a dress," Kyoya cut in. "After all, despite your misgivings, you will be attending the Christmas party our club his hosting."

Peyton hummed to herself in thought. "Arguing my way out of going with you would be less trouble than actually going, so I'm going to go ahead and continue saying no."

"Arguing is futile for your case since you're my younger sister and I have to look after you," the older raven reminded the girl. "And since I shall be attending and all other family members will be attending functions where it would be best if you didn't go, then you'll be coming with me."

"You people make it sound like I'm going to rob you blind if I'm left alone," the young woman muttered. "I already said I gave up trying to run away. All my plans would take too much effort to put into effect. I'm better off just playing the cards as they lay."

"In this situation, the only cards given to you is to come along to the Holiday event," Kyoya his younger sister.

"...I believe in Hinduism, therefore it is rude of you to press your religious holidays onto me," Peyton said, completely serious. Then again, when wasn't she?

The elder Ootori smirked. "You've never stated that religious preference before, so that is highly unlikely. You also stated that you celebrated Christmas earlier by sleeping through it."

"That's what all people who don't celebrate Christmas do," Peyton argued. She sighed. "Warum müssen Sie argumentieren so viel? Sie haben nicht immer zu gewinnen." [Why must you argue so much? You do not always have to win.]

"Ten-chan learned German!" Honey exclaimed.

"When did that happen?" Haruhi inquired politely.

"Eh?" The raven haired female turned to the others. "The night before last night. The crazy lady told me that it was the scary glasses man's favorite subject, so I read through a German dictionary and then watched a bunch of different videos so that I could get the pronunciation down."

"Ah! I see!" Tamaki interrupted. "In order to grow closer to your older brother, you used the opportunity to try and take an interest in all his favorite subjects! Now you two can converse in secret and allow your relationship to grow! Mon ami! You are so lucky to have such a sweet little sister who loves you so!"

"No," Peyton cut in. "I just wanted to tell him off in another language, but it would be no good if he didn't understand, so I chose one that he would know that most others wouldn't. It's the same reason I learned French two years ago."

'_For such reasons..._' The twins and Haruhi shared the same thought with a sweat drop.

However, Tamaki had a different take on the subject. He grasped the raven haired girl's hands with tears streaming down his face. "Such a shy girl! You don't have to hide your feelings. Don't worry, the club will not make fun of you for it."

"The only one to be made fun of here is you," The young woman deadpanned. "Honestly, you're one of the many people out there that gives the rest of the blondes a bad name and reputation."

"Mother!" Tamaki shouted, running off. "Sister in law is so mean!"

Peyton stared with unamused incredulousness. "What an idiot."

"You get used to it," Kaoru told the girl, leaning against her on one side with his arm resting on her shoulder as support.

Hikaru copied his brother's actions and leaned on the girl's other side. "That just means M'lord likes you."

"I feel pity for whoever he falls in love with." Peyton's eyes flashed toward the other female of the group for a moment. "But I don't see any reason to like me. You people don't even know me and I've obviously have been making the effort to keep it that way so that I'd be left alone. Yet, you still bother me. Why?"

"Because it's fun," Kaoru chirped.

"And more than that," Hikaru started.

"It bothers you," they finished together. "Besides, we've been designing a dress just for you."

"You can design all you want, but unless I make the effort to put the thing on, it's not going anywhere but a dusty closet," Peyton pointed out. "And for clarification, since I'm well aware of the tactics you use, I don't have anything you can blackmail me with, nor do you have anything that I would take as a bribe. Also, I may not have any ability to fight, but I'm very good at dodging and running, so kidnap and force is out of the question too. I already know about scary glasses man's police force, but I am positive that I can think of the best escape route that I would be capable enough of putting into action. Not to mention that I took the time to learn all the routes to take to get around Japan last night."

"Well, then what about if I asked you to come?" Haruhi offered. "It'd be nice to spend time with someone who doesn't try to cause a scene."

The new girl turned to stare at the brunette, her eyes only the tiniest bit wider (though this went unnoticed by the twins and the blond leader).

"Don't bother Haruhi," the twins said as one, flinging their arms around the shorter girl. "It's no fun if there's no way to outsmart her."

Peyton kept staring at the other girl, who also maintained eye contact. "...Alright."

"See- wait," Hikaru froze and snapped his neck to look at the other girl. "_What_!"

"Haruhi invited me nicely," the raven haired young woman said with a shrug.

'_It was that easy?!_' The twins shouted to themselves.

"It's not like it really inconveniences me that much," the younger Ootori shrugged again, "so I suppose I can spend a few hours keeping her company… That and it will get the scary glasses man's glare off my back. I think there's a hole forming in the back of my head."

The three other first years looked up to see the Shadow king was indeed staring at the girl with that sinister smile of his.

"Hey, hey. Scary mister, can you stop trying to dig a hole through my head? It's uncomfortable," Peyton sweat dropped.

The older of the two Ootori children's smile widened slyly. "That's not how you respectfully call for your elder brother now is it?"

"If you're going to play it like that, then I'll just wear foil helmet." The girl procured a roll of aluminum foil and started to tear out pieces, making out the general shape of a crude head covering.

"What is this? Is this something American commoner's do?" Tamaki asked curiously, an air of intrigued stupidity about him.

The adopted Ootori didn't look up from her self given task. "I heard from a few schizophrenic weirdos that aluminum hats protect you from people reading your mind and aliens, but I never believed in that sort of stuff until I came to Japan."

"Mind reader? Aliens?" The twins asked as one once more.

"Yesterday when I was walking around, I heart this middle schooler in a karate outfit say that his older brother was an alien and one of the other students his age called him Huninozuka and a kid bearing the resemblance to samurai-san whacked him with a bamboo sword and called him Yasuchika. But that means that the not so innocent one is an alien and I'm sure you already know who the mind reader could be." The American finished her helmet and plopped it on top of her head. "Not to mention, there's obviously something wrong with the blond idiot, so a little protection wouldn't hurt."

The twins shared a look and then turned back to the taller girl, pointing toward themselves. "And you don't see anything wrong with us?"

"Well, you're mischievous. Although, the idiot blond calls you two the little devils slash demons. But I've met a real demon and you two aren't anywhere nearly as bad as she is. Besides, it's not like you really try to hurt anyone, you two just do stuff to keep you from getting bored," Peyton reasoned with a shrug. "I would have thought you two were odd if your Host Club act was real, but it's very clear that it is just that: and act. So there's nothing really too negative about you two."

The two Hitachiins stared at the girl, even as she walked away to chat with Haruhi, who was off making another pot of tea for her customers. Really, after the appearance of Haruhi, another girl pops out of nowhere and sees right through them, stepping into their little world of 'just us'.

"Hey, Hikaru," Kaoru murmured so that only his brother could hear.

"Yeah?"

"If she keeps this up, I might want to adopt Peyton into our family just like with Haruhi."

"...I might end up feeling the same way soon too."

xXx

"Good morning Peyton-chan," Haruhi greeted. "Are you feeling alright? You look rather tired."

"Ah," the pink eyed female paused to yawn. "Good morning to you too. I am a little sleepy. I'm not too used to sleeping in a new environment and it doesn't help that I'm a light sleeper."

"You should go to the nurses and take a nap then," the brunette hidden female instructed with a concerned little frown. "I saw you read through all the coursework for the next month, so you can probably afford taking a short break."

"Most people aren't able to tell that I'm actually reading when I flip through a book like that." Peyton sighed. "In any case, trying to take a nap would be no good. I can't sleep with other people in the same room, every noise they'd inevitably make would wake me up."

"That's not good," Haruhi mused. "Perhaps it would better for you to go home? Or at least don't go to the club today."

Peyton shook her head. "Scary glasses man probably won't let me and we take the same car. I should be fine until the end of club hours. I've lived through worse."

The scholarship student paused to glance at the girl, wondering about the meaning behind the taller girl's words. "Peyton-chan?…"

"Hmm?" The raven haired girl turned toward her classmate, stopping as well.

"You don't have to worry so much," Haruhi said sincerely. "No one wants to hurt you here. All of us want to protect you."

Peyton's eyebrows twitched up for not even a second. Her mouth curved up the smallest amount then dropped back into its usual neutral line as she kept walking. "I'll keep that in mind."

Haruhi smiled brightly. '_She should smile more often._' The brunette chuckled to herself and moved to catch up to her new friend.


	6. Chapter 6 Has Mishaps

Chapter 6 Has Mishaps

"Ano, Tamaki-sama," one guest called for shyly.

Said blond turned with an adoring smile, leaning in close. "Yes princess!"

"Why is Ootori-chan being punished by Kyoya-sama?" The young girl asked, taking a nervous side glance toward the two siblings.

"Ah...that," the host club leader sweat dropped a little. "You see..."

* * *

"_Peyton, to keep you busy and doing something productive, I'd like you to organize these files," the older Ootori instructed._

"_Don't want to," the younger raven dismissed without looking up._

_Kyoya pushed up his lenses threateningly. "It's either that, or you eat the amount equivalent to your leftover dinner from last night."_

"_It's not like you could really force me. All I have to do is keep my mouth closed," the younger student pointed out. "But since I'm bored, I guess I'll do something."_

_The girl took the stack of papers and got to work, much to her older brother's satisfaction. The Shadow King sat down across from her and began to work on whatever was needed as well. The two worked silently for the next couple of hours until Peyton got up organize the notes she made for the other and brought them back, stacking them neatly in front of the boy and then returning to the large bag of mind puzzles Fuyumi had gotten her (that she had steadily been going through quite easily)._

_Kyoya paused his own work and started to go through the new files, only to pause on the first page. A quick glance was all he needed from the rest to know that they had similar results. "Peyton, what are these?"_

"_The files you had me organize." The cherry blossom eyed girl tossed another solved puzzle to the side._

"_And this is what you call organizing?" The older raven ground out._

_Peyton blinked and looked up lazily. "Well, I finished early and I didn't want to work on more bothersome files, so I decided to make them more interesting."_

"_You little!" Kyoya pinched his younger sisters cheeks and tugged on them. "Little sisters should learn to behave."_

"_Ouch. Ouch, that hurts scary glasses man." However, despite her words, Peyton didn't look fazed or in pain of any sort at all._

"_Kyoya, what _are_ you doing?" Tamaki asked, coming up from behind._

"_This child needs to be disciplined for being cheeky," the Shadow King growled._

_Tamaki glanced down at the stack of papers on the desk and picked up a few. He snorted when he saw the first one. At first it looked like gibberish, but upon closer examination, he realized that everything was written backwards. The next page was written in English and everything but the first and last letter of each word was all jumbled up. The next page all the words were mixed up for someone to puzzle out what each word could be and the next page everything was written backwards. After that, she switched languages and repeated the cycle._

"_It's all properly organized," Peyton told her older brother, even as he kept pulling her cheeks. "Now it's more interesting to read. Besides, now people can't read your files when they're not supposed to."_

"_That's not what you were asked to do," Kyoya scolded the girl._

* * *

Tamaki laughed nervously again. "Well, why don't we leave them to it. I'd hate to lose more time when I could be gazing upon your beautiful face."

"Oh Tamaki-sama!"

xXx

Though Peyton's features were as bored as it ever was, there seemed to be a dark shadow hanging around her eyes and head.

"It's your fault for landing yourself punishment," Kyoya reprimanded. "You shouldn't have taken my task so lightly."

The young woman signed and leaned over to rest her elbows on the table to prop up her head. "Its not like I did anything that bad. I just wanted to see if doing something like that was really any fun. Besides, I typed up everything the correct way and left the file on your desktop."

The Shadow King blinked and minimized his other windows. True enough, there was that file. "How did you…?"

"I typed it up on the computer you gave me and then hacked into yours and synced out two computers so that I could transfer the file where you could easily find it." It was ridiculous how nonchalant the girl sounded despite admitting such acts.

Kyoya's eyebrow twitched, but he sighed and let it go. It was easy enough to know that the girl wasn't going to be doing anything to harm him with those abilities. If anything, he could gain quite a bit having her around.

"By the way," Peyton added, "your security system sucked, so I upgraded it and improved your firewalls."

Like that. He was already gaining something from her, now if he could just get used to the headache she brought along too.

xXx

"It's hot," Peyton muttered in irritation, glancing up at the bright artificial sun blazing in the skylight.

"The warm climate was built to simulate an authentic jungle experience," the youngest Ootori male explained.

"Why are we even here?" The raven female asked no one in particular.

"We're here to play!" Honey chirped, bouncing forward in a bunny printed inner tube. "And it's a great way to play somewhere warm in the middle of winter, right Takashi?"

"Ah," Mori agreed with a nod.

Haruhi sighed. "I was hoping to never see this place again."

"Come now!" Tamaki cooed. "This park has been open to the public for a little while now, so that means that all the issues have been fixed. Now is the time to enjoy, relax, and accompany our lovely ladies!"

"I didn't think we would have to spend time looking after guests," Kaoru and Hikaru complained with a scowl.

"None of that now," Kyoya reprimanded lightly. "Now go attend to your appointments."

"Haruhi-kun, aren't you going to swim?" One of the many female students asked the young student disguised as a male.

The brunette smiled warmly. "I'm alright, why don't you ladies enjoy yourselves? It makes me happy just to see you having fun."

The girl's blushed and turn to leave, but a few paused for a moment. "How about you, Peyton-no-kimi?"

'_Well at least it's not Ootori-chan now_,' the pink eyed girl mused to herself as she raised a hand to decline. "I'm fine. Pools and I don't get along very well."

The girls nodded and ran off without another word, heading toward one of the many pools within Haruhi's eyesight.

Peyton sighed. "Well, since I'm stuck here, I might as well look around. Maybe I can find a map or something."

"You shouldn't try leaving the premises," Kyoya warned without looking up from his laptop. "I've asked Tachibana to keep an eye out for your escape attempts."

"I dunno, I think I can get by him if I really tried." The raven haired female laced her hands behind her head and turned toward her disguised classmate. "You want to come with me if I try Haruhi?"

The brunette chuckled nervously. "Nah, it's fine. The girls would be upset if i left and I can't really afford to lose any customers."

Peyton nodded in understanding. "Alright, then I won't bail either in honor of that. Besides, talking to you isn't bad. Your company is actually somewhat enjoyable compared to everything I've experienced."

One corner of Kyoya's mouth quirked up into a smile. "It seems to me that you've found a friend in Haruhi."

"...A friend huh..." the raven haired female wandered off with those words in mind, not bothering to let the other two in on her thoughts before she left to explore.

The American bred girl studied the plants and 'wildlife' situated within the large complex with mild interest. It was nice that she didn't find herself bored since there was so much to see and no one was bothering her. There were also plenty of signs situated in convenient viewing areas that explained a few plants or animals for the guests, as well as maps for those who lost their way. Eventually, the call of water had he heading back, unaware of the shadow tailing her. Peyton was almost back within sight of the majority of the rest of the group, passing by the current pools, when a girl jumped in front of her path.

"Hey you! Just because the Ootori's picked you off the street, doesn't meet you can cause Kyoya-sama and the others problems!" The girl snarled. "And don't get so close to Haruhi-kun! Even though he's a commoner, you two are on different levels! You should know your place."

Peyton blinked at the girl, choosing not to speak right away. "What foolishness you speak of. You made so many assumptions, it's sad. I never asked the Ootori family to adopt me. In fact, I wanted to be left alone. I admit to causing them problems, but only small ones that are easily fixed and won't cause harm. And why shouldn't anyone be allowed to get close to Haruhi? Your jealously holds purpose since I don't like Fujioka in any intimate way. By approaching me in such a fashion, you are only making an idiot of yourself."

The girl's face burned red with humiliation and anger, and in a fit of rage, she screeched and pushed the American as hard as she could. With nothing to grab onto, Peyton fell.

"Peyton!" Kaoru, who had just rounded the corner with his brother chasing after him just in time to see the girl fall into the current pool, her eyes wide open.

Kyoya stood up with a start at the shout and ran over. He spotted his adopted sister bob pathetically in attempt to keep her head above sister, choking and spluttering. And then it clicked. "She can't swim!"

Without thought, Kaoru dove in and swam after the girl. It was a heart shuddering moment when she sank below the surface and her hand stopped flailing. The younger twin took a breath and swam lower, grabbing the still girl around her midriff and hauling her up. He fought against the moving current to get the girl onto land. He laid the girl on her side and leaned in close, but his heart sank at the lack of sound. "She's not breathing."

Acting quickly, Kaoru rolled the girl onto her back and performed CPR. He and his brother learned it more as a joke to use during club, but he was never more thankful for that ability than when Peyton choked and coughed up the water from her lungs. She would live.

Everyone else caught up with them just in time to see the cherry blossom eyed girl roll onto her side coughing, her hair hiding what little of her face wasn't turned toward the ground and a hand fisted tightly by her head. They breathed out a collective sigh of relief, glad to know that both of the students had made it out alright. The host club was the first to approach, blocking off access to the girl. Mori and Honey quickly shepherded away the girls after making sure their newest companion was alive, then immediately came back.

"Darling little sister! Are you alright?" Tamaki cried dramatically, at the same time that Kyoya knelt by the girl and reached forward to check on her.

"I'm fine."

The older Ootori paused.

"It's okay. It's okay. Everything's fine."

It was then that the rest noticed the the girl was shaking, her visible fist starting to turn white. She wasn't talking to them. She was trying to reassure herself.

"It's okay...It's...O-kay." With that, she released a breath, her fist and body relaxing. The girl sat up with her legs folded beside her and a bored look on her face. She swiped a hand across her forehead in a mock action of swiping off metaphorical sweat. "Phew. That was a close call there."

"Are you alright?" Haruhi asked worriedly, concerned with the girl's behavior after her near death experience as much as the experience itself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm alive aren't I?" Peyton pointed out. "I won't be taking anything but showers for a little while, but that's not really a cause for concern."

"Ten-chan!" Honey wailed, diving into the girl's lap to hug her. "We were so worried!"

"We should get you to a doctor," Kyoya commented, not liking the state of her mental health. He wrapped his sleeveless beach coat around the girl's shoulders.

The raven haired female waved the boys away. "I'm fine, stop worrying."

"You nearly drowned!" Kaoru argued.

"How can you be alright with that?" Hikaru demanded.

Peyton turned toward the older twin with a tilt of her head. "I stopped caring. If I don't care, then the situation can't hurt me, right? However," the raven turned toward her savior, "thank you for saving me Kaoru. And I guess I'm sorry for worrying eveyone, even though it wasn't like I did it on purpose."

"You could have told us you couldn't swim!" Tamaki scolded.

"I was trying to be, what was that word?..." Peyton pursed her lips lightly in thought. "Oh yeah, considerate."

Haruhi frowned. "That's no excuse. We wouldn't have minded taking time to teach you or Tamaki-senpai and the others might have planned to go somewhere else instead."

"It doesn't matter if it was here or anywhere else, I still would have gotten pushed down something dangerous," the raven haired female stated matter-of-factly with a shrug. "And it's not like I really wanted to learn, that would just mean I'd have to burden someone with that tedious task, so it was better off left unsaid."

"We would have helped," Kaoru insisted.

Peyton's eyes unfocused. "The number one rule is to never be any more of a burden than I already am." With a blink, she came back to her senses and stood up. "Well, I don't particularly like standing or sitting around wet, so I'm going to go change."

"I'm coming with you," Haruhi stated firmly, leaving no room for arguments in her tone.

The taller girl sighed, but nodded and headed off toward the private changing rooms set up for the two of them, leaving the boys behind.

"I know it's only been a couple months since she's got here," Kaoru said quietly. "But I wish she would tell us more."

"It seems that she has learned not to trust easily," Tamaki commented seriously.

Hikaru clicked his tongue and bawled his hands into fists. "That's not fair."

Kyoya's jaw clenched and he took off toward the changing rooms to take his adopted sister to the doctor for a check up after she finished changing.

It wasn't fair.


	7. Chapter 7 Has Families and Events

Chapter 7 Has Families and Events

Pink eyes flashed open and the girl sat up quickly. She gazed at her surroundings, studying for familiarity and danger. Finally Peyton sighed, bringing a hand over her face as she slouched. A quick glance at her clock told her that there were still quite a few hours until she had to get ready for school, though there was no way she was going back to sleep anytime soon.

Peyton sighed. "How bothersome."

xXx

"Men! And Haruhi. We have to find a way to help Peyton know that she is a valued family member to this club!" Tamaki instructed. "Options?"

"We could make a family tree and hang it on her wall," the twins suggested.

"We can give her all the cake she can eat!" Honey offered cheerfully.

"Mitsukuni," Mori disagreed softly.

"Perhaps we should find a role she could play within the club so that she's officially one of the members," Kyoya hummed.

Haruhi shook her head at the club's antics. "Why don't you just let her know that were there for her whenever she needs us? I doubt Peyton-chan would like a lot of fanfare or flashy material, so just be nice."

"What a perfect idea, my dear Haruhi!" Tamaki shouted enthusiastically! "We shall welcome her to this family and let her know that she can rely on us through a party during club!"

"That's not what I said at all," the brunette grumbled, but her words were lost under the last minute preparations for later that day. She disguised girl sighed and shook her head, heading off toward class. Perhaps she would make cookies later as a way to both welcome and apologize to the girl for the annoying events about to take place.

xXx

Peyton paused when she reached the top of the staircase leading to the clubroom. All the female customers were waiting outside, whispering excitedly about something the pink eyed girl wasn't really sure of and probably didn't want to know either.

"There she is!" The nearest girl and first to notice the American, shouted.

Peyton blinked and then then turned around to walk away.

"Wait! You have to go check out the club before we can come in!" Many of the girls shouted a variation of and pulled the girl toward the entrance.

The adopted Ootor child read the sign on the dear with growing irritation.

'_Dear Customers of our club, please help us ensure that Peyton is the first to enter for today's event!_'

This did not bode well in her books. Peyton sighed. It was no use, she might as well open the door since the other girls would cause her trouble otherwise. The door creaked open and those annoying flower petals floated out, to which Peyton batted them away. There sat all the members of the club dressed up with an Egyptian theme, positioned around Tamaki slash pharaoh.

"Welcome to the family!"

BAM!

…

"You know, that's the second time she's slammed the door in our faces," Hikaru and Kaoru commented.

Meanwhile, Peyton started walking back down the corridor. "You're all free to go in now."

"One minute ladies!" Tamaki called out. "Hikaru! Kaoru!"

"Roger!"

For the second time since Peyton arrived in Japan, she found herself trapped between two identical bodies and hauled off toward the same room she still wanted to avoid.

"You know, this may not count as kidnapping anymore, but I think harassment would just about cover it," the raven haired female commented.

"Nonsense!" Tamaki disagreed easily. With a flourish of movement, he pulled out a female costume. "Now hurry and change into this, as you are the princess of honor for this party!"

Peyton stared at the blond, then turned away with a pitying sigh.

"What type of a reaction is that?" The host president demanded shrilly.

"You really are an idiot," the youngest Ootori child said with a slow shake of her head. She turned to walk away, holding her hands up in a 'what can you do' sort of action. "Whatever. I'm going to find somewhere that's not going to bother me."

"Seeing as this party was designed with you in mind, it would be in your best interest for you to stay," Kyoya not so subtly commanded the girl.

"In what way does this theme represent me at all?" Peyton asked dryly. "It doesn't reflect anything I like at all. It would have been best to use a neutral theme or just no theme at all."

"This was probably just senpai's excuse to throw a party with an extravagant theme," Haruhi reasoned.

Peyton sighed again. "Annoying."

"Mother! Our daughters are so mean!" Tamaki cried out. He turned back to the two girls and pulled them into a suffocating hug. "Why can't my daughters be more kind to daddy?"

However, his words were lost to Peyton who couldn't hear anything over the rush of blood through her ears and the painful stab through her chest as her ability to breath and think started to fade. Everything disappeared and the desire for safety choked her and pulled her consciousness deep within the innermost layers of her mind. Her whole body slumped, slipping out of the blond's hold and onto the ground where she sat listlessly.

"Peyton!" Haruhi called out, the first one to notice something was off. She pushed Tamaki out of the way and crouched down in front of the other girl, worry digging deeper when she took in the vacant look of her eyes.

"What...happened?" The president asked slowly.

Kyoya grimaced and nudged the brunette out of his way. "You stepped on one of her triggers."

"Trigger?" Hikaru asked softly, kneeling by the girl's side.

"It's a defense mechanism Peyton set up for herself to keep herself safe," the older Ootori explained. "She has trained herself to shut her consciousness away so that nothing can get to her."

"But why would she need to do that?" Kaoru questioned, a sense of fear taking place for what the answer could be.

Kyoya's grimace dipped down for a moment and he chose not to answer in favor of the girl he was asked to look after. The raven haired male placed a hand on the girl's head, ignoring the way her body tensed slightly. "Peyton, no one here wants to hurt you. Come on out, it's alright."

The others watched as the supposed Shadow King murmured words of comfort to the girl and he gently patted her head. It took a good ten minutes and a lot of patience before the adopted young woman finally came to.

Peyton blinked slowly and looked up wearily. "Oh. It's the scary glasses nii-san. Give me a minute." She leaned into her elder brother's hand and closed her eyes.

"Are you alright, Ten-chan?" Honey asked softly. "Do you want to hold Usa-chan?"

The American opened an eye and glanced at the older boy. "It's alright. I just haven't fully convinced myself that I don't need to go into that mode here."

"Peyton," Kaoru started hesitantly, curling his hands into fists. "Why do you have that mode? What's the purpose of it?"

The raven haired female took a deep breath and stood up, brushing dirt off her dress. "The best way to not get hurt is to not care. Please let it go."

The boys and Haruhi paused at that. The American girl had never politely asked them anything before and, despite wishing to know the details of the matter, they decided it would be best to respect her wishes until she was ready. After all, wasn't what that party was for.

Tamaki slapped his idiotic smile back onto his face and held out the girl's costume once more. "Come! We have kept our guests waiting long enough!"

Peyton sighed but took the dress. "Whatever it takes to get you to be less annoying by this point."

Suddenly, the tall blond gasped.

"What..." The Ootori female said slowly, preparing to back away if needed.

"You- you- you- you- You called Kyoya, nii-san!" The host club president faded into a world of his own as he spouted words about love and relationships, though no one was really listening by that point.

"I don't see what the big deal with," Peyton muttered. "I was going to have to call the scary glasses man nii-san by some point unless I wanted the scary mister and the crazy lady to get mad at me."

Haruhi smiled warmly. "But to us, that means that you respect Kyoya a little bit more and are closer to liking the rest of us."

"I guess that's why they call it dreaming," the taller of the two girls shrugged.

xXx

"Hey...What's the point of talking about the Christmas ball if it was so far away?" Peyton asked the group as they finished their final preparations.

"Peeeeyton-chaan!" Tamaki whined. "Why aren't you getting into your dress! Big brother wants to see you all dressed up!"

'_Well, at least he stopped calling her his daughter,_' Kyoya thought to himself as he kept writing down information into his black notebook. '_Though, it seems that he couldn't get away from including her in some way to this family._'

"Why?" Peyton inquired without any real interest behind her question. "All I have to do is slip it on and walk out. I don't need anything else."

The host king gasped dramatically in horror. "Hikaru! Kaoru! Use your magic!"

"Ara?" Was all the raven had time to say before she was dragged away, leaving behind a small cloud from the speed she was kidnapped.

"Now Peyton, hold still. We know what we're doing," the twins said to the girl. Not that she could go anywhere, tied down to the chair as she was.

"Get those things away from my face and hair." Though her expression wasn't any different than it normally was to its bored tone, there somehow seemed to be a dark shadow hanging around her.

"Come on, Peyton," Kaoru soothed.

"Yes, trust us," Hikaru agreed. "We know what we're doing."

"Don't care, get away." Peyton eyed the make up brushes and scissors with distaste. "I said I would come. No one said I had to do anything special. You're lucky I even came with a dress."

"Speaking of which," the twins said, looking away suspiciously. "Your dress has been mysteriously maliciously destroyed."

…

The two boys looked down to see a corner of the girl's mouth visibly pulled down and her eyes definitely more narrow.

"Look Hikaru!" Kaoru said in mock wonder.

"I know, I see," the elder brother played along.

"She made a different face!" The duo cheered.

"Hika-chan! Kau-chan! Is Ten-chan ready yet?" Honey called through the thick doors.

"Almost," the twins shouted back before turning back to the girl with mischievous smirks. "Now..."

The other hosts listened on the other side as a lot of shuffling and struggling before the doors burst open, revealing a very smug looking set of twins.

"Behold our second masterpiece!"

"Aaah...Where is she?" Tamaki was the first to ask when no one appeared.

Hikaru frowned and turned around. "What happened to your I-don't-care-just-do-whatever-you-want-and-stop-bo thering-me attitude you had?"

"Oh, I still have that attitude," Peyton called out.

"Then why aren't you coming out?" Kaoru was the next to ask.

"Easy. Can't walk. In fact…Oof!" A thump was heard. "I can't even stand."

The seven hosts walked into the room to see the younger Ootori sitting on the ground, looking pretty (literally). With her hair half up and wearing a frosty blue, knee length, one shoulder dress with ruching to her hips before flowing out, Peyton really pulled off the part of a young member of the high society.

"Those heels are only and inch," Hikaru pointed out.

"Doesn't change the fact that I still can't walk," the raven haired girl shrugged. "Too bad, so sad. If I can't walk, I can't go. Now I'm going to have to go home and do my original plans of sleeping."

"Your sarcasm borderlines painful," Tamaki sniffled.

"And Ten-chan can't go home now!" Honey whined. "We have to show everyone how pretty she is! You look like a little snow fairy, Ten-chan!"

"I'm more of a Autumn season sort of person," the raven haired female commented. "And it doesn't matter what the rest of you want if I can't walk on my own. After all, being the hosts of this event, all of you have to be available to dance."

"I take it you don't have another pair of shoes available?" The financial manager of the host club asked the twins.

The two shook their heads and held up their hands. "We weren't planning on getting a toy who can't balance."

Nevertheless, the Shadow King smirked. He pushed up his lenses, causing light to glare off of them (this sent shiver down everyone's, even his little sister's, spine). "Then I propose that we each take turns supporting my dear little sister the rest of the night. And, as to not cause suspicion or unneeded jealousy, we will use the guise of dancing."

Peyton paled. "Scary glasses nii-san, that won't work. I can't dance and it's too much of a bother."

"Are you sure?" Kyoya asked slyly. "Personally, I think dancing all night with each of us would be less of a bother than dealing with Fuyumi, don't you agree. After all..." The Shadow King held up a small device and pressed a button. "Scary glasses nii-san...Nii-san...Nii-san."

The adopted child paled further and further as her older brother kept playing that one little word. The crazy lady would throw such an annoying and stung-out fit if she heard that. Someone had finally managed to get something on her.

"Wow! Ten-chan's face turned blue!" Honey observed.

'_He really is the Shadow King,_' the six hosts pitied as one.

"Shall we?" Kyoya held out a hand.

Checkmate.


	8. Chapter 8 Has Brains in Motion

Chapter 8 Has Brains in Motion

Ah, spring. The time of rebirth and new life. Hope for the upcoming year…

"EEEEEK! Peyton! What are you riding!" Tamaki screeched. The blond stared in horror at the youngest Ootori child, who was on top of a giant tarantula.

"It's my pet," the pink eyed woman said evenly. "I built it."

"Wow, the detail is pretty good," the twins commented. "It looks like the real thing."

"That's so cool, Ten-chan!" Honey cheered. "Right Takashi?"

Mori allowed for his cousin to jump onto his shoulders. "Ah."

"Did you really build this?" Haruhi asked in awe.

"Yeah." Peyton used her controller to make the spider move around. "I was taking apart the electronics in scary glasses nii-san's room and he threw me out and had people bring me a bunch of parts and anything else I wanted, so I built this."

'_This girl..._' The host club sweat dropped.

"Wh-wh-wh-why did you b-b-bring it t-t-to school?" The host club president stuttered out fearfully.

"I didn't feel like walking around campus. Plus, this was a good way to test this out in the field. It has more functions than just carrying me around." The raven patted her devices head.

Tamaki whimpered when he caught sight of a strange gleam that flashed through the girl's eyes when she glanced at him, sending him scurrying off toward his vice president. "Mother! Do something about little sister!"

Kyoya sighed. "There's not much I can do about how she uses her intelligence. In any case, this could turn quite interesting." The elder Ootori smirked with future plots in mind.

The other hosts sweat dropped again. '_They really are related._'

"By the way," the vice president continued, turning toward his adopted relation, "what else did you build?"

"Oh," Peyton popped open a compartment hidden within her spider's abdomen. "I also made these."

The newest addition to the host club family held up seven different dolls.

"Mother! Look! Little sister made dolls that look exactly like us!" The host king cooed.

A dangerous glint flashed through the raven haired female's eyes once more. "They're voodoo dolls."

Tamaki turned to stone in shock and horror.

"Ten-chan made all of us!" Honey giggled happily, spinning around with his doll look alike in hand.

"They're well made," Kyoya complimented, holding up his own doll for inspection. "You've got them down to the smallest detail."

"It's more of a challenge if I try to model them after the real things," Peyton reasoned. "Thanks for the pictures, they helped a lot."

Hikaru whistled and turned the doll shaped after him in his hands. "Look Kaoru, she made it so that the clothes can be exchanged."

"And it's made with the same material as our real uniform," the younger twin observed.

"Oh! One more thing." Peyton walked over to the still frozen blond and tugged out a hair, ignoring his protests of pain. She quickly and skillfully integrated the hair into the Tamaki doll and held it up to her older brother. "Now you can sell this for ten times the original price. I made voodoo dolls for each of your themes," the Ootori female continued, taking out more of her work as she spoke. "You can display them on your website for sale. For advertising, you could put a hair in only one of their dolls and then either sell those seven as a set. Or, since these are voodoo dolls, you can jack up the prices for your auction using the reasoning that voodoo dolls like these are believed to help the intended target to fall in love with the wielder."

Kyoya's glasses glinted. "Well done."

Once more, the group sweat dropped, a cold feeling washing over them. '_This combination… seems dangerous._'

"Still, you did rather well on the clothing," Kaoru commented.

"Especially for someone new to sewing," Hikaru agreed.

Peyton blinked lazily. "Of course I did. I was just copying the picture."

'_Why you-!_' The older twin growled in his head.

"It's not like I had to create my own clothing line for you guys," the pink eyed girl continued, not caring about whether or not her previous words could have offended the two fashion conscious boys. "Creating something new and mimicking something else is completely different. It takes talent and a different kind of intelligence to create something new that other people will like as well."

The two identical boys stared at the girl, stunning into silence. They watched the girl go off and interact with the other club members, completely oblivious to the effect she just had on them.

"Wow, Ten-chan! You're really skilled when you put your mind to it," Mitsukuni praised, flowers seeming to float around him as he spoke. "You even gave my doll a Usa-chan to go with it!"

"Well, that rabbit is always with you, so the doll would be inaccurate if I left it out," the cherry blossom eyed girl rationalized.

"On the other hand," Haruhi commented thoughtfully, "I would have never guessed that you were capable of such work. You always seemed the type to not do anything more than required. You've been so lazy and unhelpful so far, that I'm honestly quite amazed."

Even though the brunette had no ill will behind those words, Peyton's eyebrow still twitched for a moment. The taller female sighed and thought about those words for a moment. "I am not used to this environment..."

"What do you mean?" Haruhi asked gently.

"I have never had a moment that allowed a chance for my mind to go idle. Usually, I must be on constant alert- I always had to be aware, my survival depended on it. The date and their schedules, and how to work around them without upsetting them or creating a situation that they wouldn't approve of...I was always thinking about these thing. But here…I-...I actually become...bored..." Peyton gazed down at her hands in a sort of wonder. "I have actually had a chance to see my supposed intelligence in play, giving what I know a purpose and shape. It is a strange feeling and I'm not used to not knowing what to do with myself."

Young Fujioka smiled warmly, happy for the girl. "Just apply what you know to the real world and try to have fun with it. I'm sure you'll find your calling soon."

"Having fun? My calling?" The adopted child tilted her head in thought and confusion. "What unusual concepts. I suppose this is one of those 'only time will tell situation', huh?"

"Speaking of applying yourself," the twins said together as they threw their arms around the taller girl's shoulders. "We'd like you to assist us with a little project."

"That will depend," Peyton replied blandly. "Just because I'm actually doing more, doesn't mean I want to do anything that'll turn out to be too troublesome. I'm only doing so much to fill the idle hours and that's it. If it affect me after the given time frame, then it's bothersome."

"No worries!" Kaoru chirped.

Hikaru smiled mischievously. "It's actually very simple."

"All you have to do is..." The twins whispered the rest of their plans into her ears.

Peyton hummed in thought. "Alright. That doesn't sound like too much trouble. Let me go talk to the scary glasses nii-san about the materials I need. However, you should save that for a later time, since all of the preparations will take me a while. But I have something else in mind for now. That alright with you two?"

"Anything to pro happiness is good for us!" The twins gave the girl a thumbs up, letting her know she had the green light to try out whatever plan was formulating in her brain.

xXx

By the end of classes, Tamaki had calmed down enough and was back to full energy about that day's theme. Today the hosts were dressed up in an older style of military uniforms, knee high boots and all. They would represent the men who were sharing one last romantic moment before heading off to war to fight for their loved ones. However, when he stepped into the room after changing into costume...

"EEEEEEEK!" The blond promptly faded right after his shrill shout of horror.

The others stepped around the twitching lumb to see a full blown movie worthy battle field, with the added cliche twist of zombies slowly rising and sinking from the ground.

The Hitachiins whistled. "You really went all out on this."

"This will be cleaned up before our guest arrive, I hope," Kyoya commanded more than asked.

"Of course." Peyton appeared between the two groups, hanging upside down. "The cat puppet weirdo said he approved and should be here any moment to pick up the props. He also asked if he could get the pictures of the idiot blond's reaction. Overall, this turned out quite profitable and somewhat amusing. I can see why you two go through with the trouble just for the outcome."

"I'm glad you've taken an interest in something," the elder Ootori said with a gleeful smirk.

"T-T-Ten-chan, s-s-s-so cool," Honey stuttered, trying his hardest to compliment the girl despite the evident fear on his face with tears clearly ready to burst forth.

"It's alright Honey-senpai," Haruhi soothed, not at all affected. "See? The workers are already taking the stuff away."

Peyton had the spider land on the ground so that she could get off.

"So is that it?" Hikaru asked the American girl.

"That would be a waste of all those class hours," the raven informed the two. "Besides, I haven't even gotten a chance to test drive everything about my mechanical spider."

The twins watched as their newest form of entertainment directed her device toward their leader and start wrapping him up like a real spider does to its freshly caught prey. The spider then dragged the limb body across the room and up the wall, sticking him onto its web.

"Oooh!" The two boys clapped in amusement. "M'lord is going to freak."

"Let's see, now position the dead body right there, spider over him," Peyton mumbled aloud. "Now use vapor to wake up the blond idiot and release a few drops of fake venom."

"That's not very nice you guys," Haruhi reprimanded lightly. "Still...You certainly put a lot of thought into that thing. I'm amazed you were able to make it so realistic. What's in the venom? And how did you make the web sticky?"

"The web is just cotton threading mixed with glue just a little better than what the kids use, that way it's still easy to clean off," the raven explained. "The venom is actually just water warmed by the electronics, but stored safely so that there's no risk of leaking and damaging the equipment. I used a little dye to make it slightly opaque to make for a more visually stimulating result. However, the warm vapor and drops should be scary enough on it's own. All eight eyes are cameras, recording every second and transmitting the results directly to the computer I synced it up to and I used a popular gaming console my classmates had since I was familiar with the controller. I'm surprised that the scary glasses nii-san even owned one, though it wasn't used even once, so I went ahead and took it apart for this project. Getting adopted by a filthy rich family turned out to actually have a few good perks."

Haruhi sweat dropped. "I see..."

"GYAAAAAAAH!"

"Ah. Idiot blond is awake." Peyton turned back to watch the results of her craftsmanship, while the twins grabbed their stomachs in pain from laughing so hard.

"What a wonderful pet you've built," a eerie voice admired.

"It needs work," Peyton rejected. "The movements aren't as smooth as they could be. Anyways, here's your last corpse."

"Splendid, amazing." Nekozawa smiled, his puppet nodding enthusiastically. "I must say, your products are wonderful. Truly, it was a pleasure."

"Eh," the pink eyed girl shrugged. "It gave me something to do and scary glasses nii-san made a profit, not to mention, the twins seemed to be entertained."

Haruhi shook her head disapprovingly, but couldn't help a small chuckle. "I think you should let Tamaki-senpai down now. The guests will start arriving soon."

"Puuu," Peyton pouted. However, she did let the blond down. While the host club president immediately ran over to the brunette female to seek comfort, the American was given a pat on the head by her older adopted sibling.

"Though Tamaki is making a ruckus, you did well." Kyoya looked down with a smile. "I'll be sure to include you with our upcoming projects. Do your best, alright?"

"Hm." Peyton shrugged and turned back to watch the others as they gathered their wits together and headed toward the gardens where the cherry blossoms were blooming. "Only if it isn't bothersome."


End file.
